Latch-controlled operating mechanism



J. l-LsAxRss LATCH CONTROLLED OPERATING MECHANISM Filed Jan. 22. 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 10,1927. ,474

J. H. SAYRES LATCH CONTROLLED OPERATING MECHANISM Filed Jan. 22. 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR i7 h 6 draw-71 .5-

May 10, 1927. 1,628,474

J. H.- SAYRES;

v LATCH CONTROLLED OPERATING MECHANISM Filed Jan. 22, 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 lilllll 'umm INVENTUR JhnESayr-es y ht aiivrngy-s Patented May 10, 1927.

JOHN H. SAYRES, OF BROOKIJYN NEVT YORK.

"Application filed January 22, 1926.

My invention consists of an operating mechanism which is latch controlled, preferably of the-type wherein an electric contact and electrical connections serve to operate a trip mechanism.

Among the objects of my invention may be mentioned:

The use of an electric current or other convenient-1neans to release a strong mechanical operating force;

(2) The use of remote control contacts automatically controlling the operation of the mechanism;

The use of a minimum of current or other power, i. 'e., for only the instant of time required to actuate the mechanism;

(4) Immediate breaking of the actuating current or shut off of other actuating means as the mechanism acts, thus eliminating waste, inconvenience to the operatives, or danger of igniting materials;

(5) An improved and very sensitive toggle mechanism trip to releasetheheavy mechanical force, while nevertheless being itself controlled by the relatively small pull of, say, an electro-magnet.

Other objects will be apparent uponconsideration of this specification.

I have discovered that these objects are best attained by means of an electromagnet actuating an armature which trips one end. of a series of linked toggles. A preferred form of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which 'Figure l is a diagrammatic sketch of a form of my invention wherein a normally open electric circuit uponbeing closed trips the releasing means.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic sketch of the nor mally closed circuit modification.

Fig. 3 is a perspective sketch of the complete apparatus, in which an alternative form of the reset spring is shown.

Referring briefly to the construction, the essential features of the mechanism are:

(1) A displaceable operating member such as the rod 11;

(2) Some means for stressing and, upon release, actuating the displaceable operating membeiyas the spring 12; together with (3) A releasable detaining mechanism to which the invention particularly refers.

This mechanism comprises a latch adapted to detain the operating member against the stressing force, as here shown (for example,

current as soon as the mechanism'has begun LATCH-CONTROLLED OPERATING- MECHANISM.

Serial No. 83,162.

by meansof-a member ld'adapted to engage a notch 15 in the rod) together with a releasing mechanism comprising a toggle train, (for example, the members 16, 21, 23, 2.5 and 27) the final member cooperating with a trip member (such as the armature 28). Preferably the trip member operated automatically as by an electromagnet. The trip member may be operated by hand, in fact it is'usually desirable to have manually operated tripping means 'in combination with the automatic means.

Heretofore mechanisms of the class embracing my invention have usually depended upon battery current or upon small generators'to-supply.the energy required for tripping the system. Batteries are frequently found exhausted at the critical moment, and generators of an economical size can not always be relied upon to give sufficient current.

lVhile invention may be operated on battery or generator current if desired, it is designedprimarily for operation on ordinary power or lighting circuits. utilizing the cold resistance of a metal filament lamp. In the well known Mazda lamp this cold resistance is about 1/14 of the hotor light resistance. A circuit breaker stops the to release, thus insuring a flush of current. instantaneous only, and so powerful. that there is never any question of 100% operation. Another advantage of the use of a metal filament lamp for operating on its cold resistance is that it permits the use of a much heavier and more mechanically du rable magnet wire than would be possible were high resistance wires used.

Other features of my invention preferably include a hand stop entirely independent of the electrical connections, and the-use of enamelled wire for the magnets. This wire has proved itself to be entirely free from insulation troubles.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, and especially to Figure 1, a mechanism housing 10 has slidably running through it a knockout rod 11, the motion of which isemployed to accomplish the purposes of the mechanism. A spring 12rests upon one face of themechanism housing 10 and stresses the knockout rod by exerting a force against a collar 13 rigid with the knockout rod. The force exerted by the spring tends to more the rod away From the mechanism housing in the direction indicated by the arrow X. Such motion is ')rerented by the action of a. latch Ll which sits in a notch lh in the knockout rod.

The latch ll is held in place and tripped by an espec altv desini'ied to lo mechzmism and tripping: means which will now be described.

The latch 14; is attached to the end of a lever to which is pivoted near its midpoint to a l'ulcrum rod 18 by a. pin 17, and is free to teeter about that point. The fulcrum rod 18 is in turn pivoted by means of a pin it). to the mechanism housing.

At the end farthest from the latch a pin 20 connects the lever 16 with the lever 21, which is in turn pivotally connected with the mechanism housing at its other end by the pin 29. Also connected with the lever ltiand the lever 21 by the pin 20 is the toggle arm 23, which is connected at its other end by a pin 24: to its coacting toggle arm 25. lhe toggle arm 25 is pivoted at its tar end to the mechanism housing by the pin 26. Two coacting toggles are thus seen to exist: one formed by the levers 1G and 2].. pivoted at 20, and one consisting oi the toggle arms 23 and 25 pivoted at lat. the common pivot being at 20.

lVheu in the positions shown in the full lines in Figures 1 and 2 this toggle system holds the latch let in engagement with the knockout rod and thus prevents its dis placement by the stress resulting from the force of the spring 12.

The togrgl'le system and with it the latch-is held in position by means of a member 27, rigid with the toggle arm 25. This member 27 engaged and held in position by a lever 28. which is pivoted to the mechanism housing by the pin 29. The lever 28 the armature of an electromagnet 30. and is adapted to be pulled thereby out of engagement with the member 27. A spring 3]. here shown as a leaf spring, normally holds the armature 28 away from the electromagnet 30.

From a consideration oi the preceding description and the drawings it is evident that: a small force applied by the armature 98 against the end of the member 27 will balance a larg 'i'ori-e exerted by the notch 15 upon the latch 14. It is also apparent that by energizing the electromagnet 30, the armature 28 is drawn against the electromagnet and out of engagement with the member 27. thus tripping the system and releasing the latch. The members then assume the positions shown in dotted lines.

The electric circuit which energizes the electromagnet is indicated as starting at a source of power 32, travelling through a wire 33 to contact points f'l-t. ordinarily 03 ternal to and frequently at a considerable distance from the device. A l wire 35 connects the contact points with a Mazda lamp 236. whence another wire 37 connects with a cir- (Hit breaker i rin'ii ly attaclu d to the latch let. The circuit breaker 138 is connected to the electrommtrnet 30 by a wire 39 and a wire 40 completes the circuit to the source of current For moving; the armattu'c 538 out; of em n'znrei'uent with the member 2? and tripph'lg the system, I a lso n'ovide a hand stop -tt1, which acts through a rod 42 and a bracket 13 upon a bracket 44, rigidly attached to the armature l ly relieriui-"e to Figure 1 it will be apparent that by pressing the hand stop M, the armature 28 is broughtanainst the electromaanct exactly as if the magnet had been energized. Naturally, the other elements will also act as they would had the magnet been energized.

In addition to the notch 15 the rod ll is notched at 4:5 to react with a member lt which is a part ot the toggle member After the rod 11 has per l'ormed its tnnction as a knockout and is being reset to its latched position a spring, el-l acting through a rod l8 pulls toggle member to a point where member lli can be engaged by notch 4r. 'liherea'ltcr the further movement of the rod it in a direction opposite to that ol': the arrow X pushes toggle membm' 25 into its normal position. In the full reset position spring 4-? lies loose and without tendency to produce motion in toggles 23. The reason for this is to avoid resisting the breakage of toggles 23), 25 at pin when the external contact points Set close. It will be apparent that a very small transverse force such as spring 4;? acting: on pin Ql would resist a very heavy external soaring l2. the purpose oi. which is to operate the knockout bar. As soon as toggle members 23 and have reached their tinal position. the knockout bar 1i mores slightly in the direction oi ar row X until notch 1:7 engages with latch l l. 'lhis leaves the member 46 and toggle members 2 :3 and entirely tree .trom transverse force and permits a minimum operating spring 112 much smaller than would otherwise be possible.

in the perspecti c yiew (l igg'. 13) :1 double torsion. spring l7 acting upon the lower lip of the lower member oi: the second toggle serves to bring the reset lip into engagement with the reset notch 45. y 7 V i. may apply the operating mechanism to a great: variety of machines, which it may be desired to stop qnickl and automatically in an. emergnzncy or at: the end o't work. in every case the emergency or end oi work is utilized to cause co:Italy-tin; ot a pair of points 34. thus (losing the electric circuit, energizing the electromagnet 30, and drawin; the armature 2S suddenly against the electromagnet. This trips the lever 2'7, perlift) mitting the toggles 23, 25 and 16, 21- to as some the positions ind cated in the broken lines The other members then necessarily assuine the broken line positions shown, thela tch .jllbe ing thrown clear of' the notch 15 by the action oi -the springlfl, and:

possibility of sparking at the external contact points or burning, out of the magnet. Fire risk is thus eliminated, and the operator of the machine is able to make any'corrective adjustment without danger or inconvenience from the electrical system.

lVhile the description has been drawn to a construction wherein a normally open circuit is employed, a normally closed circuitv may be used equally well. In fact for some purposes a normally closed circuit is prefers able. Such a mechanism is illustrated in Fig. 2. The only difference between the normally open and the normally closed circuit is that while in the former the armature is pulled toward themagnet thus breaking the circuit is, broken, thus permitting the toggle to break in the opposite direction. No

circuit breaker is needed in the normally placeable body other than a rod (say a rotatable disc) might be used. 7 1

It will be at once apparent that this automatic motion may be used to shift a belt,

open a switch, open or close a valve, throw a clutch'handle, or otherwise instantly disconnect the power driving a machine. Other uses will also occur to those familiar with a this type of apparatusi as, the application of brakes, opening of fire house or emergency doors, setting of signals, etc. I

I have previously employed automatic stop motions ofa character not altogether" a preferred form of my invention, and thatmany modifications will naturally occur to those dealing with the problem, without, however, departing from what I claim as my invention, I claim:

1. An automatic stop mechanism comprising a rod,'a lug upon said rod, a housing through which said rod passes, and a spring compressiblebetween said lug and saidhonsing in eoi-nbination with toggle means for holding; said rod against the action of said spring, and electrical 'means for releasing said toggle in'eans.

2;In' an automatic stop mecl'ianism, a spning and toggle means i'onl'iolcling said spring compressed, in combination with elee triealmeans adapted to release said toggle means, andelectrical contact points remote from said toggle means. 7 3. In anautomatic stop mechanism-,a

spring, and toggle means for holding said spring compressed, in combination with electrical means adapted to release the toggle means, and mechanical means adapted to reset the toggle means when said spring is compressed. V

4:. In an automatic stop mechanism a spring, a rod and toggle means for holding said spring compressed,.in combination with electrical means adapted to release the toggle means, a reset lip upon an element of the toggle means, and means upon said rod for engaging said reset lip.

5. In an automatic stop mechanism, a spring, and toggle means for holding said spring compressed, in combination with an 'electromagnet adapted to release said toggle means, electrical connections, and contact points remote from said electromagnet.

6. In an automatic stop mechanism, a spring, toggle means for holdingsaid spring compressed, and electrical means for releasing said toggle means, in combination with a circuitbreaker adapted to be opened by the releasing action of said toggle means.

7 In an automatic stop mechanism, a f

spring, toggle means for holding said spring compressed, an electromagnet adapted to release said toggle means, and suitable electrical connections, in combination with an incandescent lamp in series with said electromagnet.

8. In an automatic stop mechanism, a spring,toggle means for holding said spring compressed, an electromagnet adapted torelease said toggle means, and suitable electrical connections, in combination with resistance in series with said electromagnet.

: 9. A mechanism comprising a rectilinear ly movable operating bar, a spring stressing said bar in one direction, and a latch mech-- 'anism for detaining said bar against the effort of the spring, said latch mechanism comprising a latch arm one end of which o'perativ'ely engages said bar, a pivoted toggle link engaging the opposite end. of said latch arm, and a suspender rod connected to said latch arm intermediate its ends, together with a detent operatively associated with said latch arm and normally maintaining the latch in engagement with the operating bar.

10. A mechanism comprising a, rectilin early movable operating bar, a spring; stresir ing said bar in one direction, a latch ineclianisin for detaining saicl bar against the efl'ort oi the spring, said lateh inerlianisni roniprising a lateli arm one end of which operalivoly engages said bar, a detent normally maintaining [lie lillill in engagement, with ll'lO operating bar. a swinging hanger eonneetecl to mid lateh. arn'i interinecliaie its ends, and a pivoted toggle link engaging;

electromagnol: adapted to trip lie toggle s nk-loin. i

11.. In an automatic slop nieelianimn, an eleriiroinagnet, a spring, toggle lllQHllb for holding said spring LOIIIPL'OSSIM l, and a (airenil; ln'eakor ol'ieral ecl by said electron]agneii in. roniliination willra. metal filament lamp used as resistance in series with the windings oi said. eleetironiagnet.

1n iesbiinony whereof nanie to tliis specification.

JOHN H. SAYRSS,

I have. signed 111) l 

